In your newspaper and online today is a section that's certain to spur neighborhood gossip: A list of every taxpayer in Stark County who hasn't paid their property taxes this year.

"This gets their attention ... there's a little bit of social pressure," said County Auditor Alan Harold.

By state law, the auditor is required to annually publish a list of taxpayers who became delinquent during the year. That list — which contains names of more than 2,700 people or businesses — is published in a tabular section in today's Repository and in Saturday's Alliance Review. A link to a PDF version online is available here.

The combined past due taxes amount to about $2.4 million. That's money, which among other uses, helps fund local school districts and operation of county government offices.

If you see your name on the list, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Most of these folks would have already (received) three bills this year," explained Harold. "They got a first half bill, a second half bill, then another in October telling them they had until Nov. 1 to pay."

Amounts due range from $50.09 for one homeowner in northwest Canton, to $60,345.82 for an office building in the Belden Village area in Jackson Township. Approximately three-quarters of the delinquent real estate tax bills are for amounts less than $1,000.

From experience, Harold knows his office phone will ring off the hook on Monday — the day after publication.

"We'll probably scrub a couple hundred off in the first week, with people coming in to pay," Harold said. "We really encourage people to call us ... to set up a payment plan, if they can't do that."

He said there are many reasons, besides inability to pay, for lapsed tax bills. For example, a homeowner may have moved and is unaware of the bill; perhaps a parent who died owns the property; sometimes when owners refinance, they didn't realize an escrow account wasn't part of the mortgage terms.

The delinquent taxes actually are for the 2012 tax year, but billable this year, according to County Treasurer Alex Zumbar.

He said this list is different than one that appears daily on the treasurer's website at www.starktaxes.com. That list is for tax year 2011 and prior. And it currently includes names of 551 people and businesses.